Minnesota Tops B1G Preseason Coaches’ Poll

Adam Wilcox among five Gophers named to Big Ten Players to Watch List

The University of Minnesota enters the 2014-15 season as the team to beat in the Big Ten hockey conference according to the annual Big Ten men’s hockey coaches’ poll released this morning at the 2015 Big Ten Hockey Media Day at Joe Louis Arena. The defending Big Ten regular-season champions and national runner-up at the Frozen Four are followed by Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Michigan State and Penn State in the poll.

The coaches also selected a 16-member Preseason Players to Watch list which the Gophers led with five selections (Kyle Rau, Adam Wilcox, Mike Reilly, Sam Warning and Brady Skjei) including three of the six unanimous picks (Rau, Wilcox, Reilly). The list includes two returning first-team All-Big Ten honorees (Minnesota’s Reilly and Wilcox), three second-team selections (Michigan’s Compher, Minnesota’s Rau and Wisconsin’s Rumpel), four honorable mention honorees (Michigan’s Copp, Michigan State’s Jake Hildebrand and Minnesota’s Sam Warning and Brady Skjei).